In His Voice
by rutategan
Summary: A year after Fairy Tail's disbandment, Lucy has moved on to a new life. When she leasts expects it, the reappearance of her best friend throws her life back into the adventure she knew before, but can things be the same after all the hardship they endured? Can they be the same partners, or are they destined to be more? Rated M for language, potential violence, and lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: For those of you that read my first one-shot, this is the story I intended to write all along but got distracted, haha. :) The first chapter is exactly the same as that one up until the Lucy and Leo convo, obviously, and it deviates from there, so feel free to skip and just read the last few paragraphs of this chapter and then move on to the next. To those of you who are new, hi and welcome! Hope you enjoy!**

The morning light streamed through the window of Lucy's apartment, pulling her out of her peaceful sleep. Stretching her arms above her head, she gazed out at the city streets of Crocus, still empty due to the early hour, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before the streets flooded with people, both those bustling about to get to the Grand Magic Games, and those going about their normal daily business. Bleary-eyed, she wandered from her bed to the bathroom where she methodically brushed her teeth, showered, dressed, humming nonsense tunes to herself all the while. She chose an outfit of a simple blue skirt and a blue and white striped tank top, and slung her bag over her shoulder. Lucy looked in the mirror and smiled, telling herself she would work her hardest today, just like every other day.

Leaving her apartment, Lucy realized she took too much time getting dressed and ready, as the streets were now crowded. Hurrying along, she rushed to the colosseum where this year's Grand Magic Games were being held. As she heard the announcements from the same announcer as last year and Mr. Yajima's non-committal commentary, she couldn't help but think back to when she had been a participant in the games, how much she had thought she wasn't good enough, that she'd only been chosen because of…. _No._ She clamped down hard on that thought to stop it from materializing in her brain. She didn't want to think about who she used to think was her best friend. His pointy, mischievous grin, his rosy, disheveled hair, his easy manner, how he would clasp his hands behind his head while they walked…. _Nope, nope. Have to stop that._ The dismissive tone of the note he left in her old apartment had made it clear that he didn't think of her as a friend the same way she thought of him. How she had cried that day, as she ran and ran through Magnolia, not sure of where she was going or where she thought she was going to find him.

Things were different now. She was a reporter with Sorcerer Weekly. She had a new apartment, job, and a new life. No new friends to speak of, other than her boss, Jason, but she'd been keeping herself so busy with her job and training with her spirits that she hadn't really tried to make new friends. And secretly, she hoped someday she'd get her true friends back. Lucy pushed through the crowds and ascended up to the reporter's box where Jason was already waiting, pen and paper in hand, his excitement evident on his jubilant face. He turned around as she entered,

"Senpai! Sorry to be late, the crowd was crazy!" She smoothly lied

"Lucy! You're looking cool today, as usual!" He exclaimed, giving her a double thumbs up.

"Did the match already start?"

"Soon, soon! But you know Chrisaac's gonna wipe the floor with the other guy! He's just that powerful!"

Jason's energy was typically infectious, and Lucy felt herself smile and get excited,

"Alright! Let's get us a scoop!"

Her attention focused in on the match as she heard Jason's chorus of "SO COOL!" She scrawled notes about the match into her notebook, reflecting on how happy she was to be a reporter now as opposed to her….previous job. When Jason originally approached her about a job, it wasn't as a writer, but as an underwear model. It was funny, Lucy could remember a time when all she wanted was to be a centerfold in Sorcerer Weekly like Mirajane, but when it actually happened, it had felt so...empty. She had been embarrassed. When the modeling would have been to represent Fairy Tail, it would have made her proud to be a beautiful mage of the Fairy Tail guild, but just as plain old Lucy Heartfilia….it didn't feel right. Also, when she wasn't part of her guild, using her power to help others and to be a part of a community, she didn't really feel beautiful anymore, and so when Jason asked her back for more photoshoots, she had begged him for a chance at a writing job instead. To her amazement, he agreed, and although he worked her like a dog, she was learning a lot and she was much happier writing than modeling.

Once the match was over, and Chrisaac was declared the winner, Lucy and Jason walked out of the Colosseum together.

"I'll handle the writing and the layout, so just give me your notes to combine with mine and I'll take care of it!" Lucy said as Jason strode out a bit in front of her.

"Thanks Lucy, you're the greatest!" Jason replied, "Hmmm...But ya know," His face gaining a more somber expression and closing his eyes "This year's Grand Magic Games just doesn't have the same...boom to it. Saber Tooth, Lamia Scale, Mermaid Heel, none of them came. Blue Pegasus, Quattro Cerberus…"

He opened one eye and gave Lucy a very knowing look,

"...And Fairy Tail too."

Lucy laughed awkwardly. He had never actually addressed that fact with her up until this point. It was no secret to the world that Fairy Tail had disbanded after the Tartaros incident, but most had the good grace to not bring it up with her. She wondered why Jason was broaching the subject now.

"Well, that's because it doesn't exist anymore…" She said weakly.

Jason frowned.

"But that mark on your hand is still there." He said, all the usual energy gone from his voice.

Lucy squeaked in surprise and clasped her hands together self-consciously. It wasn't like Jason to be so serious. She looked down at her clasped hands, her face growing red. Jason seemed to sense that it wasn't something she would or could talk about so he turned around and walked away, waving his hand dismissively,

"I guess it really is all over huh….such a shame though."

 _Such a shame indeed._ She thought bitterly, as she walked back to her apartment. It seemed that no matter how hard she tried to avoid it, today was going to be a day she thought about Fairy Tail. _That's a lie_ , she thought as she opened the door and plopped down at her desk to get to work. After many hours writing at her desk, she got up, stretched, and went to the bath. Sitting naked among the suds, she confronted her thoughts. The truth was, she thought about Fairy Tail every damn day. Despite that, she hadn't kept in touch with anyone from the guild for the past year. She told herself it was because she was so busy, but that was a lie too. Really, it was because she was afraid to meet them now that they'd all gone their separate ways. Afraid to confront the fact that not a single one of them had asked her to come with them. That thought stung as ever, and she sunk deeper below the bubbles in shame. Gray and Juvia had gone off together, Erza had set off alone. Gajeel and Levy, Jet and Droy, Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna, had all gone together in their groups. Lucy had thought for sure at least Wendy and Carla would have asked her along, but no. She wanted so desperately to see all of them.

"AGH!," She cried, kicking some of the bathwater up and clenching her fists, "I MISS FAIRY TAIL!"

A banging on her apartment wall startled her out of her thoughts as a low male voice shouted,

"KEEP IT QUIET IN THERE!"

She mumbled an apology as she climbed out of the bath, drying her hair and wrapping a towel around herself. She also called Plue out of his spirit gate to help her, and just to keep her company. She mused on the fact that one of the main reasons she wanted to become a reporter was so she could have access to any information about her former guild-mates' whereabouts. She walked over to her wall where she kept the map, adorned with pins and drawn lines connecting locations and towns, along with all the information she had gathered thus far. Newspaper clippings, handwritten bits of gossip, the occasional photograph. Below the map hanging on the wall were stacks of books on tracking, journalism and problem solving. Plue was attempting to organize it, carrying a comically sized stack of books and dropping them as he walked. She put another mark on the tally of days where she hadn't heard a single word about...those two. This marked 365. Exactly a year. This wall in her room looked like the workings of a crazy conspiracy theorist, but Lucy didn't care. She would do anything for the hope that one day they'd all come back together. She dropped her pen and leaned her head against the wall with a _thump._ Not feeling satisfied, she curled her hand into a fist and slammed it next to her head. Turning around and sliding down until she was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, she lamented.

 _But what then? There's no Fairy Tail to come back to._

Plue shivered next to her, stroking one of his hands (paws?) on her arm to comfort her as the tears started to fall. Even though it was across the room on her nightstand, she felt the key to Leo's gate pulsating in a silent offer of him coming through the gate to comfort her himself. She closed Plue's gate and she stood up. Wiping her tears away, she walked to the bed, let the towel fall to the floor, not bothering to put it away, and crawled under the covers. She reached out for her keys and clutched them to her chest, feeling automatically comforted as they warmed to her touch. Before she knew it, she felt a pull on her magic energy as Leo materialized next to her on the bed, laying on his side above the covers, propped up on one elbow, cradling his head. A familiar pang of annoyance twitched in her temple.

"You know," She said brusquely, pulling the covers up to her neck and staring at the ceiling, "I don't recall actually asking to open the gate of the lion"

"Well, princess, I know when I'm needed, and you don't even have to ask for me to join you in bed."

Lucy didn't have to look to feel his wide grin and was sure even in the dark he could feel her blush. This wasn't the first time he'd come to lie down with her. Purely innocently, of course. For her, his presence was especially comforting because he had been a member of the guild, and it made her feel so much less alone.

"...Can I see it?" Lucy said quietly.

"Of course, princess"

Lucy turned to face Leo and propped herself up on her own elbow, pulling the sheets around herself as Leo sat up and turned away from her, shirking his black coat and tie. Deliberately, he unbuttoned his white shirt and pulled it down his shoulders and back, revealing the bright green Fairy Tail mark right between his shoulder blades. She remembered the first time she had asked to see it. It was a month after Fairy Tail's disbandment. She had been a complete mess, sobbing herself to sleep, having no idea what she was going to do or who she was without her Fairy Tail friends. During that particularly bad night, she started to question if Fairy Tail had ever existed, or if she had made it up in her mind. How she had scratched at the mark at her hand, drawing blood as she tried to determine whether or not it was real. Leo had emerged from the gate of his own accord then, grabbing her hands as she fought against him, tears streaming down her face. In the end, the only way to convince her she wasn't insane was to show her the Fairy Tail mark he bore on his own back, the power of which was so strong it hadn't faded even when he returned to the celestial spirit realm.

Previously, she had only looked at the mark, feeling comforted by its familiar shape, but tonight, she was overwhelmed by the urge to reach out and touch it. She did so and heard Leo gasp softly at the contact as she covered his mark with her own. She half expected him to make some kind of pervy remark about her touching him, but he didn't. When she first met a Celestial Spirit, she had wondered if they would be like ghosts, that if you tried to touch them, your hand would go straight through them. But the first time Aquarius had grabbed her by the arm to yell at her for calling her during her bath, she realized they were as flesh and blood as any human. Leo's skin felt warm beneath hers.

"I think I owe you an apology," Lucy said, not yet removing her hand from Leo's skin.

Without moving his body, Leo turned his head to look at her, a questioning look on his face.

"I know I've been so sad...to lose all my friends." Lucy started, her voice heavy, "You and the other spirits must have felt like I had forgotten that you all were my friends too. All we did was train and practice, spar and fight. But I want you and the others to know that you are all my dearest friends, and I know I still have all of you, even without the others…"

In a quick movement, Leo pulled his shirt back on and turned around, and before Lucy knew what had happen, her hand had gone from being on his back to being clutched in his hands. On his knees next to her now, his hazel eyes were intense as they bored into her own.

"Lucy," He said, abandoning calling her "princess" for once, "you don't have anything to apologize for. We're your spirits. We know your mind and your heart. The ache we feel from you for Fairy Tail's absence hasn't diminished the glow of love we feel from you at all times. That light fuels us and makes life as a spirit worth living. Just look at your keys, they're all glowing and vibrating from everyone agreeing with me."

"But how can you all trust me anymore?" Lucy fretted, "After what I did to…to her."

She stopped short of saying Aquarius' name out loud. The loss of Fairy Tail almost paled in comparison to the loss of Aquarius. She knew if she really went out and looked, she could find her Fairy Tail friends again. But Aquarius...she'd never see her ever again. No human would. She hated herself for being the kind of wizard that would do such a thing to her beloved spirits. That's why she had begged Capricorn and Leo to train her harder than she'd ever been trained, so she would never again be so weak that she had to sacrifice so much to win a battle. They had felt her resolve and obliged, and she'd leave their training sessions beaten and bloodied, with a few broken bones, but she never gave up. The next time she was faced with an opponent like Jackal, she would win with her bare hands before she let her spirits suffer.

"Stop it, Lucy." Leo warned, "No one blames you for that. Aquarius knew what she was doing. Any one of us would have done the same thing if we could. Don't let yourself fall into the darkness of those thoughts. That, and the other thought I know you don't want to say out loud."

He knew her too well, as always. There was another reason she had been training so hard. Maybe if she finally said it out loud, she would feel like it sounded silly and she could let it go,

"But if I wasn't so weak...if I was strong and powerful….He would have….they all would have…. _someone_ would have wanted me to come with them"

It didn't sound silly at all. It sounded exactly right.

"You _are_ strong and powerful," Leo insisted, " You summoned all your celestial spirits at once to save my life. You can now summon two celestial spirits at once without breaking a sweat and add a third if need be. You mastered the Urano Metria spell and don't even need Gemini to cast it anymore. You summoned the Celestial Spirit King, something no other Celestial Wizard in history has ever done, and now you've mastered Star Dress through your second origin. You're the greatest Celestial Wizard alive."

Lucy snorted,

"Even if that was true, I'll never be good enough for...nevermind."

She looked at Leo and saw how hard he was trying to help. Her features softened and she smiled at him,

"I'm sorry, Leo. Here you are trying to make me feel better and I'm still all doom and gloom. You can go back to the spirit realm now, I'm going to get some sleep."

"Okay, princess, sleep well," He squeezed her hand supportively as he dematerialized into starlight to pass back through his gate.

She settled back down onto her pillow and closed her eyes, letting the exhaustion of emotion start to lull her to sleep. She grasped her keys once again and whispered softly,

"I love all of you, always."

The warm hum of the keys comforted her as she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, the same familiar light filled her room, and Lucy once again awoke and prepared herself for the day. Today would be the very last day of the Grand Magic Games. It amazed her how quickly they seemed to come and go when she wasn't participating in them. Well, and when they weren't punctuated with an apocalyptic rip in the time space continuum culminating in a Dragon attack the likes of which the world had never seen. Again, she looked in the mirror just before leaving and told herself she was going to try her best today, but somehow, she could tell her own eyes lacked the same spark they had yesterday. She told herself not to worry, she'd had her good days and her bad days over the past year, and one down day didn't negate the progress she had made in her new life. Slinging her bag over her shoulder once more, she made her way back to the Colosseum.

"Today is the last day of the Grand Magic Games!" The Announcer's voice boomed, "This will decide the best guild in Fiore. Surviving the Semi-Finals with his overwhelming strength is Chrisaac from Dullahanhead! Versus the guild that has shown us miracle upon miracle, Skull Millione!"

"This year's games are based entirely on tournaments," Mato took over in his high-pitched voice, "So this final match alone will decide the winner!"

"COOL! COOL!" Justin chirped next to Lucy as they leaned over the wall of the press box, "We're going to be able to write a great article on this, Lucy!"

She gazed out at the field, spacing out as she took in the appearance of the guilds about to battle. Was it just her, or did the people from the less famous guilds always look...weird to her?

"Lucy!" A sharp voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Ah, sorry Senpai, what were you saying?"

"LOOK! The battle's about to start!" Jason pointed, his face exuberant.

"Yeah, but it's all an act," Lucy sighed in a lackadaisical manner.

"Not really, I mean Skull Millione's had a rocky start," he replied, "but who knows, they might just-"

"That's what I'm saying," Lucy interrupted, "Sure, Chrisaac's strong, but from what I see, Skull Millione's members are way stronger, but they're hiding it. Probably because they're doing it for the money."

Jason's loud shout of "HUH?!" was drowned out by the announcer's booming voice declaring,

"AND THE WINNER IS SKULL MILLIONE! WHAT A SHOCK!"

"Oh, what a surprise," Mr. Yajima's even-keeled voice said, suggesting he wasn't really all that surprised.

"And since they were an unexpected winner, they're worth 100 times more than usual to the bookies!" Mato intoned.

Jason turned to Lucy, a shocked look on his face,

"Amazing! It's just like you said, Lucy! COOL!"

"Yeah," She sighed, looking down dejectedly, "sure, they're strong, but to have them as the number one guild…"

"Oh, what's happening over there?" The announcer's voice came back on the speaker, "A suspicious person has entered the arena."

Lucy's head snapped up and looked toward the arena entrance, only to see a cloaked figure standing there. Their face was obscured by the large hood, but they looked...threatening.

"An intruder?" Lucy said, her eyebrows furrowing together.

She could vaguely hear the wizards of Skull Millione demanding an explanation from the stranger, but whoever it was said nothing as they advanced slowly toward the winning guild. The air around the intruder's feet seemed to kick up as they walked, and Lucy could feel an intense amount of magic power in the air. She tried to remember the last time she had felt this much energy, and it had been from her last opponent from Tartaros. Fear clenched in her stomach and she shouted to Jason,

"Quick! Evacuate the people!"

"Huh?!"

But before either could move there was a loud _whoosh,_ and the entire arena was suddenly engulfed in heat by a wave of steam so strong it knocked Lucy and Jason back. Lucy scrambled back up to try to see and hear what was happening, but the smoke was too thick. She vaguely heard the sounds of shouting, but she couldn't make out the words; what she did see was the smoke around the intruder seem to swirl around their hands and in a swift movement they pushed their hands forward, and a blast shot forth toward Skull Millione.

"HE ATTACKED THEM!" The announcer shouted.

Then there was going to be a fight.

"We need to gather up all the wizards that can fight," Lucy shouted to the guards behind her.

Another loud whoosh and the heat around them intensified. Lucy had never felt heat like this before. She looked around and to her bafflement, everything around her seemed to blur around the edges. Was it...melting? Was the building actually melting around them? Heat burned against her skin, and she looked down to see to her horror that her clothes seemed to be melting off her body. Clutching her arms around her front, she heard a maniacal laugh from down in the arena and she looked up as the stranger pulled their hood back…

 _No. It couldn't be._

"NATSU!" Lucy shouted, her cry strangled by shock.

Somewhere in a non-existent distance she heard the announcer, Mato, and Mr. Yajima, and Jason all shout his name as well.

"Heya Lucy, how've ya been?!" A squeaky voice piped up behind her.

It was hard for her to pull her eyes away from Natsu, but she forced herself to whirl around to face the little blue cat,

"Happy! What-"

"Oh man, Natsu said he just _had_ to come and see the winning Guild fight, but everyone's out of commission now"

Lucy turned back to see all the members of Skull Millione laid out on the ground. If it had been anyone else other than Natsu, she would have been surprised the guild was taken out in one blow, but she'd long given up being surprised at what Natsu could do. He defied any and all expectation. As if he had heard her thoughts, she heard Natsu shout from below in that familiar, throaty voice,

"I can take on any one of you, so COME AT ME!"

The guild members from other teams rushed him and Lucy was overcome with the urge to shout that they were wasting their time, but she just stood there, covering her naked chest as best she could. Flames erupted from Natsu's hands as the Colosseum continued to melt. At seeing the fire dragon's flames, the rest of the guilds turned and ran, shouting, "MONSTER!" while the audience scrambled to get out of the Colosseum and away from the heat.

"Aw, he's overdoing it again," Happy sighed, "That Natsu…"

Lucy was rooted in place, watching him. As he saw the potential for a fight running away, Natsu relaxed his battle stance, the fire fading from his hands and the heat fading from the stadium. She saw his nose twitch. In an instant, his face turned and his eyes snapped into contact with hers, his face still set in a battle frown. Onyx eyes met her own umber, still sharp with the intensity of the fight he started. She had thought so much about how they would meet again, and in all her imagination, she never pictured it this way. He looked older, and his hair was so long; it looked wild, like Leo's. She was biting her lip nervously as his eyebrows raised in surprise and his eyes rounded with realization; she wondered what he was thinking.

She watched his face blossom into the most blinding grin she had ever seen, his eyes closing, cheeks reddening, as he called out to her,

"Yo, it's been such a long time, Lucy!"

Why did her name always have to sound so different in his voice?

Her eyelids closed halfway in tenderness as she said quietly,

"How are you?" Knowing that his dragon hearing would pick it up without her having to shout.

As he smiled, she heard a voice in her head telling her that Fairy Tail wasn't over yet.

* * *

Natsu stood in front of the king, Colonel Arcadios, and Princess Hisui, having been brought in by the guards for "disrupting the games". How ridiculous! The games were totally boring until he showed up. He did them a favor by making their lame games a little more lively! He imagined the lecture he was going to get from Gramps for this. All "overdoing it" this and "paperwork" that. It made him grin.

"Acquittal?!" He heard one of the guards exclaim, "as in innocent? Released? Free to go?!"

 _Alright, that's what I'm talking about!_ He thought.

"Yes." Princess Hisui breathed between giggles.

"But your majesty," The guard implored, "He made a complete mess of the Grand Magic Games and partially destroyed Domus Flau!"

"Let's just chalk it up to youthful exuberance." The king said with a smile.

"Your majesty!" The guards all exclaimed, with Princess Hisui exploding into more giggles while Colonel Arcadios stood by in annoyance.

The king waved them away, giving Natsu a wink as he was escorted by the guards to the front gate. He exited the castle to see Happy flying up to him. Behind him, he heard the guards shout, "AND DON'T COME BACK", to which he grinned mischievously. Ahead he saw Lucy's feminine form standing below the archway, waiting for him. She looked different, somehow both older and younger at the same time. She was smiling at him like she always did, but it was small and gentle, none of her usual sassy energy.

"Looks like you were acquitted," She said simply.

"Lucy! You came to see us all by yourself; where's the rest of Fairy Tail?"

He watched her eyes fall as she clasped her hands behind her back. There was something hidden in her expression that bothered him as she looked up tentatively,

"That's right; You don't know, do you?"

Natsu exchanged a confused look with Happy.

"Come take a walk with me, guys" She said softly.

* * *

Lucy walked ahead of her two friends through the city center, trying to anticipate how this conversation was going to go. Up until Natsu had asked her where Fairy Tail was, she hadn't really thought about whether the news of Fairy Tail's disbandment would reach him, wherever he was. She certainly didn't think that she would be the one to explain it to him. Despite his note saying they'd see her again in about a year, when she saw Natsu at the arena, she realized that at some point she really had given up hope of ever seeing him again. Behind her, she heard Happy whispering,

"Do it, Natsu, you have to."

"Alright, alright," He whispered, and then raised his voice, "Uh-Lucy, what's going on?"

"Hmm?" She asked, trying to remain nonchalant, "nothing, everything is fine,"

"C'mon, Luce," He said, using her nickname and causing her stomach to drop uncomfortably, "I can tell when you're feelin' sad"

She sighed heavily and gestured to a nearby bench for them to sit down. They looked at her expectantly, while she avoided looking Natsu directly in the eye.

"Natsu...the guild...is disbanded. There is no more Fairy Tail."

* * *

The information took a moment to process in his mind, but then his jaw dropped and he felt certain he could feel Happy's do the same. Natsu's voice was stilted as he spoke,

"Fairy Tail...broke up?!"

She nodded.

"It happened the day after you guys left."

"But why?"

"I still don't really understand why either. I've never fully wrapped my head around it."

"Where can I find gramps?" Natsu asked through gritted teeth, "I'm gonna bash his brains in; Better yet, I'll rip out what's left of his hair!"

"The master is missing."

Another wave of shock broke over him,

"What about Erza or Gray?! Or any of the others?!"

"Everyone just went their own, separate ways"

Betrayal was the only way he could describe how he felt. The guild was his family. His only family, now that Igneel really was gone. How could they let this happen? How could Lucy let this happen? She had always talked about how proud she was to be in Fairy Tail, and anytime he or the others lost sight of what was important, her loyalty brought them back together again. How could she let him have no family to come back to?

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" He shouted, "EVERYONE WAS JUST OKAY WITH THE GUILD BREAKING UP LIKE THAT?!"

"I wonder…" Lucy began through her shrouded eyes, but Natsu continued over her,

"EVEN IF GRAMPS SAID THE GUILD WAS DISBANDED EVERYONE COULD HAVE JUST COME BACK TOGETHER ANYWAY! LAXUS COULD HAVE TAKEN OVER AS MASTER!"

"Do you really have the right to say that, Natsu?" Lucy's voice was low and sharp.

Her tone stopped him short. He could only look at her dark expression, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"After all, you didn't ever think of the guild, did you? You didn't discuss it with anyone when you just went off on you own journey."

Natsu may have been self-centered, but he wasn't stupid. He knew she had meant to say that he didn't discuss it with _her_ when he went on his journey. He felt bad about that, he really did, but had somehow hoped he wouldn't actually have to address that with her. He had hoped when he came back, everything would just go back to how it was. But there was no Fairy Tail, and without that he wasn't sure how to get things back to normal between them. He was saved having to respond when she raised her head to look up at the sky, putting a weak smile on her face that didn't reach her eyes. She said,

"I'm sorry. You and Happy probably had a lot on your minds. I'm just saying everyone else did the same thing you did, so don't be too mad at them, just let them be. There's nothing to be done about it. We all have our own paths to follow now."

She had tried to backpedal, but Natsu had seen a darkness and a seriousness in her that he had never seen before. How could she be so indifferent to the loss of the guild? He looked down at Happy to see a concerned expression on his face and knew that he had seen it too.

"Come on, you guys," Lucy said, standing up, "I'll show you to my place"

And then she smiled again and it was more like it used to be, and Natsu held a bit of hope that he could fix whatever was wrong.

* * *

Lucy opened the door to her apartment as Natsu and Happy rushed in ahead of her, eliciting an affectionate sigh.

"WHOA, this is your new place, Lucy?!" Natsu said in an impressed tone, looking around. This place was much bigger than her old apartment had been. Significantly more expensive too.

"So you've been living in Crocus this whole time?" Happy asked as he wandered around.

"Well, it is close to my workplace. You guys probably don't have anywhere to stay, so I'll let you crash here on the couch."

In an instant, they were both on their knees, bowing furiously and repeating choruses of, "Praise you, angel!" and, "Our God, Lucy!", giving her a familiar twitch of annoyance in her left eye.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't you dare damage anything, and do _NOT_ set foot in my bedroom, 'kay?"

She thought of her the map and twinged, thinking she didn't want Natsu to know how hard she worked to keep track of everyone. She especially didn't want him to see the picture of him and Happy with the check marks underneath. Her face got hot at that thought. She was pulled back to reality to see Happy scratching her wooden walls with his claws.

"WHAT DID I JUST FUCKING SAY, STUPID CAT?!"

Happy turned around sheepishly, sheathing his claws and giggling.

Natsu had thrown his cloak off, so that he was only wearing one of his open vests, revealing his bare chest beneath. Lucy saw bandages wrapped around his middle and several on his arms as well, including one big one encompassing his right bicep and elbow. Her anger at him softened a little.

"Natsu, sit down on the couch and I'll clean those injuries. Then you guys can take a bath and I'll bandage them back up."

"Aw, really, Luce? Thanks a million!" Natsu grinned as he complied, folding himself onto the couch in a cross legged position and shirking off his vest. Lucy went and grabbed a first aid kit from the bathroom. She sat on the coffee table in front of him and started with the small ones on his left arm. They were just cuts, mostly looking like they'd be gone in a few days, so she just washed them with water, then swabbed some antiseptic over them. He leaned back against the back of the couch and closed his eyes, wincing at the sting. It seemed weird to her, when she had seen him endure countless attacks and beatings, more pain than most would feel in their lifetime, but he still winced at antiseptic. He was only human, after all. He told her not to worry about the one on his right arm, as it was just a sunburn he had covered for protection.

"Okay, time for the big one, then," She said, turning to the one on his abdomen, "How'd this happen, anyway?"

She smiled as he and Happy recounted to her a tale of some monster they had slain to protect a village in exchange for enough money to fund their travels. Happy swore Natsu would have been monster chow if he hadn't swooped in and saved him, which he vehemently denied. She unwrapped the haphazard bandages to reveal a big, healed over gash that had actually had to be stitched up crudely. It was healed well, the line bright red, but fused back together. She wondered if it was Happy's work or if Natsu himself had done the stitching. Either way, the stitches needed to come out so the healing could be complete.

"I think these need to come out, Natsu." She said, not sure if he'd want to do it right then.

"Well, yank 'em out then. I figured it was almost time anyway, but I was gonna leave em in until after I took on the clowns at the Grand Magic Games, give me a little extra insurance, ya know."

He screwed up his face as she took a tiny pair of scissors and delicately cut the strings, using tweezers to gently tug them out. Some fell out on their own as she touched them, another sign they were more than ready to come out. Once they were all gone, she washed the area and used the antiseptic again. She put the first aid kit aside, knowing she'd need it again to rebandage him after their bath.

"Luce, what about this one?" Natsu said, pointing to a small bandage on his cheek.

"Oh sorry, here," She said, reaching out and putting one hand behind his head to steady him as she removed the bandage and repeated the steps for the last cut. As she finished, she ran her hand through his now long, shaggy hair.

"You're starting to look like Gajeel there, Natsu" Lucy chuckled, ruffling his locks.

He grumbled, running his own hand through it too.

"It's been driving me nuts, but I don't trust Happy to cut it."

"I don't blame you," she replied, "Want me to call Cancer to cut it for you?"

"OH, that's right! The crab guy can cut it! Yeah, go for it!"

She called Cancer forth, and in a matter of minutes, Natsu's hair was back to the way it had always been, a spiky pink crown around his head. Lucy was almost sad to see it go. She rather liked his hair longer, it made him look….different. Natsu's sigh of relief once he was no longer encumbered by that mane made her smile as she thanked Cancer and let him fade back into the spirit realm. Natsu and Happy wasted no time in running the bath and hopping in. A giant pile of suds surrounded them, and steam filling the room. They left the door open, a sure sign that, despite their year apart, they were still far too comfortable with one another. Lucy noticed with slight curiosity that he left the bandages on his right arm as they bathed.

"This feels so good," Natsu groaned as he sank below the hot water.

"Don't you wanna come join us, Lucy?" Happy mewled.

"LIKE HELL!" She shouted, her face turning a bright red.

While they bathed, she went to the kitchen and started putting together some food for them. If there was one thing of which she could be sure, it's that they would be hungry. They were _always_ hungry. She tossed carrots, leeks, and other vegetables into a pot with broth and let it simmer on the stove while she sliced a loaf of bread. She heard the plop sound as the plug was removed from the tub and water slosh as Natsu stood up.

"Hey Natsu," She called over her shoulder, "I can wash the clothes you were wearing if you want. Do you have something else to wear, or should I have Virgo bring you something?"

"I've got another pair of pants, but it'd be great if you could wash the other stuff."

"No problem" She said easily.

She added fish to the stew last because it wouldn't take long to cook. She heard shuffling, and when she turned around, Natsu was back on the couch in his other pants and no shirt, a towel draped over his shoulders, waiting for her to rebandage him. She left the stew simmering on the stove and went back to sit in front of him, taking out the roll of bandages and fixing up the ones on his left arm.

"Stew's cooking; we can eat as soon as you're patched up"

He grinned again,

"Thanks, Luce, it smells amazing!"

"Yeah, since when do you know how to cook?" Happy teased, flying about the room, "I thought all you knew how to do was eat."

"Watch it, cat!" She warned.

She had Natsu sit up straight so she could reach around his middle and wrap bandages around the big cut. It was mostly healed, but it was probably best to keep it wrapped up just for protection. Lastly she reached forward for the cut on his cheek, but he grabbed her hand before she could put a bandage on it.

"I think that one's fine"

"O...kay." Lucy said, lowering her hand. For some reason, her heart rate had increased, and she was sure with his stupid dragon senses he could tell, "Anyway, why don't we have something to eat, and you guys can tell me all about what you've been up to this past year?"

Natsu and Happy were at the table quicker than she could have imagined possible, and she chuckled as she went back to the kitchen to ladle the stew into bowls for the three of them. She set the bowls in front of them, and they wasted no time in digging in. After several spoonfuls, Natsu looked up in curiosity.

"This stew…" He started, "Is it…"

"Mira's recipe?" Lucy finished for him, "Yeah, it is."

He nodded. Lucy didn't want to linger on that fact too much.

"So what have the great Natsu and Happy been doing to keep them so out of loop, huh?" She asked with a smile.

Happy launched into telling her all about their adventures and Natsu exclaimed and interjected, and in a matter of minutes they were laughing like old times. One of Lucy's neighbors hollered at them to keep it down but they paid it no mind. Despite all the anger, resentment, fear, and abandonment, Lucy was still so happy to see them.

 _It's been so long since I've felt like this._

* * *

Natsu couldn't sleep. He lay on the couch, a blanket Lucy had insisted he take laying over him, despite the fact that he never got cold. He was staring up at the ceiling, thinking about...gods, thinking about everything. He reflected on his best friend's behavior throughout the day, and looking back, he thought it could have been worse. She had seemed happy to see him at first, but...reserved. Like she wasn't sure he wasn't going to disappear at a moment's notice. He supposed he deserved that. Then she had seemed angry with him. The way she had said those words. _You didn't ever think of the guild, did you?_ She had never spoken like that to him before. But after that, she was as kind as ever, letting them stay with her, feeding them, caring for his wounds, cutting his hair, washing his clothes. They had spoken, talked, and laughed late into the night, until she had arose, looking very tired, and said she was going to take a bath of her own and go to bed. With one last reminder not to go into her room, she disappeared behind her curtain and they were alone. He didn't get it. When he was mad, he attacked people. Simple. He wished if Lucy was mad at him, she'd just hit him. He knew Happy was comfortably stretched out on a big cushion next to him. He was pretty sure he wasn't out yet because he didn't hear the steady breathing associated with sleep.

"Happy..." He began.

"Aye…"

"Is the guild really gone?"

"I can't believe that it is."

Neither could Natsu. He'd get everything back the way it had been. Starting with his best friend.

"Only one thing to do then," He said, sitting up, letting the pillow and blanket fall to the floor, giving Happy a devilish grin, "Let's go draw on Lucy's face while she's sleeping!"

"I've got the pens right here!" Happy replied, brandishing pens stolen off Lucy's writing desk.

They snuck into her room, silently pulling the curtains aside as they crept forward. Natsu was sure an innocent prank would help remind Lucy how much fun they used to have. The room was dark, but moonlight from the window right above her bed illuminated the room enough to see. Lucy was fast asleep and Natsu grinned,

"She dares to sleep with us in the house?" he whispered to Happy, "She should know better by now."

"Be careful not to wake her, Natsu!" Happy warned.

He moved closer to the bed, but before he leaned forward to scribble a mustache on her upper lip, something caught his eye. He straightened up and turned to the wall across from her bed. Walking up and getting a closer look, he gasped, and heard Happy do the same. On it was hanging a giant map of Fiore, covered in hand-drawn lines, push pins, red dots, newspaper articles, and photographs of people in the guild. There was a photo of Wendy and Carla next to the city where Lamia Scale's headquarters were, a photo of Gray and Juvia up in the north but with no definite location, one of Alzack and Bisca near Hargeon, photos of Erza and Jellal connected by a red line with a question mark. The notes were incredibly detailed. Information on sightings, the dates they were seen, what they had done. She had been searching for everyone. This whole time. Natsu looked at Happy and saw tears in the corners of his eyes. He shot him a questioning look before he sprouted wings and flew up to point at something on the right hand side.

Natsu's eyes scanned over to Happy's point and saw it. A photo of himself and Happy. He remembered the day Lucy had taken it. They'd been fishing at the river and had caught the biggest fish they'd ever seen. Lucy had acted like she wasn't impressed, and they had to pester her so much to get her to take a photo of them proudly holding their catch. But she had kept it, and here it was, with a piece of paper plastered below it crudely titled, "Days without them", and he didn't need to count to know how many days she had checked off. He didn't want to see anymore. How could he have not realized how much they meant to her?

He turned to look at her sleeping form, and she looked so peaceful. Her hair swirled around her heart-shaped face, and he could see that in her hands she clutched her spirit keys, which confused him. He'd slept around her so much in their time together; in hotels when they were out on jobs, on the ground when they were traveling, the times he and Happy would insist on sleeping in her bed with her in her old apartment, and never once had he ever seen her sleep with her keys. He nearly jumped out of skin when he heard her voice,

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of my room?"

Her eyes opened sleepily and he all of a sudden felt very self-conscious. Happy had flown out of the room the second she spoke, doubtlessly fearing the wrath of Lucy.

"Lucy…" He said, gesturing behind him, "What is all this?"

"None of your business," she said, pulling herself into an upright position.

Her voice had that dark edge to it again that made him so wary.

"Earlier, when you said everyone had gone their own ways, you sounded like you didn't have any hope," he felt himself getting angry now, "that you didn't know or care what had happened to them."

"You don't know anything about how I feel, Natsu, don't act like you do," She warned him, standing up from her bed.

"If you cared at all, why did you come here?!" He shouted at her, knowing she didn't deserve it, but unable to stop himself, the stubborn tightening of her eyes and jaw spurring him on, "How could you just let them all go, start a new job, a new life without them?! How could you leave them all behind?!"

"THEY'RE THE ONES WHO LEFT ME BEHIND!" She shouted at him, tears escaping the corners of her eyes, her hand pointing accusedly at him, "You wouldn't know because you couldn't have been bothered to be there, but not ONE of them asked me to come with them. Not Erza, not Gray, not Wendy. They all left. And you don't have the right to criticize them or me. You're the worst of all. You were my partner, and you left me."

She sank back down to sit on her bed, burying her head in her hands. So she had said it. She wasn't wrong, but it wasn't fair, she didn't understand how he felt.

"It wasn't like that, Lucy. After Igneel...I just needed to do something. I lost my father."

Her head snapped back up,

"I lost my father too. Did you forget that? I never shut you out. I didn't leave you. I even watched myself die in my own arms and never took it out on anyone else."

That memory stung him as well. Watching Lucy die, even if it was the future Lucy, had done strange things to his psyche.

"But to lose him to Tartaros...he sacrificed himself for all of us." Natsu said, more quietly this time.

"I lost people in that battle too, Natsu!"

The sorrow in her voice gave him pause. What was she talking about? No one in the guild had fallen in that battle. The resentful look in her eyes was like nothing he had felt before. She didn't wait long enough for him to ask what she meant,

"Oh that's right, you don't know about that either because you never asked. You didn't even wait around after the battle long enough to find out. Didn't you wonder how it was I saved all of you from Mard Geer's Alegria spell? How weak, pathetic, little Lucy managed to survive and counteract a spell from one of the most powerful demons of Zeref? Of course you didn't," She spat those last words out at him, and he flinched.

Natsu was afraid to ask, but he looked evenly at her and spoke slowly,

"What did you do, Lucy?"

Her face screwed up again and she chomped on her trembling lip. Natsu quelled an urge to tell her to stop or she'd hurt herself. She took a deep breath before she spoke,

"I lost Aquarius. I snapped her key in half and banished her from the human world for eternity, so I could summon the Celestial Spirit King to save you. I will NEVER see her again. My oldest friend, my most treasured link to my mother, the last of my family…"

Her voice cracked on the last word and devolved into sobs. That explained it then, why she was clutching her keys in her sleep. The two of them were different. He had found a new family at a very young age, and while the loss of his father pained him deeper than he thought possible, he had all of Fairy Tail alive and well as his family still, even when they weren't a guild. Lucy had grown up in a different place, without the guild to raise her, and even though her childhood was not a happy one, she had lost every single thing that was good about it. Her mother, her father after they had just started getting along again, Michelle, and now Aquarius. He understood the darkness in her expression and the sadness in her eyes.

"Lucy...I'm sorry," He said gently, "I didn't know."

"You didn't care to find out." She said between sobs.

"That's not true," he shook his head, "I just wasn't thinking; I didn't _think_ "

There was a sound like a wind chime as one of Lucy's keys glowed and before him materialized Leo, looking first concerned at Lucy, then angry at him.

"What did you do?" Leo snapped at him.

"What?! I didn't do anything!" Natsu defended himself.

"It's fine, Leo," Lucy interrupted, sucking in her tears, rubbing her temples as though she had a headache.

For some reason, it annoyed him, Leo running to her rescue. As though Lucy would ever need to be rescued from him. He was her best friend! Just because they argued didn't mean Leo had to butt in.

"It's not fine; he's coming with me" Leo said darkly, grabbing Natsu's arm and dragging him out of the room.

"HEY! What's the big idea?!" He exclaimed.

He vaguely heard Lucy's protests as Leo pulled him through the main room and then out onto the balcony, letting go of him with a push, and sizing him up.

"Geez, Leo, good to see you too after a year." Natsu said sarcastically.

"What do you think you're doing?" Leo said, crossing his arms, "Upsetting her like that?"

"I wasn't tryin' to upset her, I just...I don't know." He finished, defeated, "I just don't understand why she's so mad at _me_."

"Are you an idiot? She thought you were her best friend."

"I _am_ her best friend!" He insisted.

"Well you've got a funny way of showing it." Leo said, putting a finger to the bridge of his glasses in annoyance, "Do you know what she thought when you left? She thought you left her behind because she wasn't strong enough to be your partner."

"What?" Natsu said, dumbstruck, "How could she think that?"

But Leo didn't answer his question directly, instead, he ranted further,

"After she gave everything she had to fight Mard Geer and Jackal. She summoned three Celestial Spirits at once, she broke a Celestial Spirit key and lost her oldest friend, she summoned the Celestial Spirit king using her own magic and then somehow still managed to cast the Urano Metria spell to defeat Jackal. And she thought that despite all that, you still didn't think she was strong enough to keep around."

"I've always believed in Lucy, you know that!"

Leo pushed Natsu again as his tone grew sharper and more ragged,

"She begged Capricorn and I to train her to her limits in the hope that one day she'd be strong enough that you would want her as your partner again. I broke her bones with my own hands because she willed us to never go easy on her, and I can't disobey my master. I bruised her and bloodied her every damn day teaching her to fight, teaching her new magic and how to use it, and she never once gave up, never complained, and never backed down."

Natsu put his hands over his ears, not wanting to hear anymore. He pictured Lucy on the ground, bleeding, in pain, pushing herself up again. Although the thought hurt, it was easy to picture. That had always been her manner, to do what she thought she had to with determination. But she had thought she had to do this, because of him. That thought he didn't like at all. Leo was looking at him with a raised eyebrow now, as if to say, "Not so easy to hear, is it?" Natsu didn't want to argue anymore. It was in his nature to act, not to talk.

"I'll make it right, Leo. I'm not sure how, yet, but I'll make it right."

Leo gave him another once-over before nodding. Natsu turned away to go back into the apartment.

"Oh, and Natsu," Leo said to his retreating back, "It _is_ good to see you again."

"You too, buddy."

Natsu didn't need to look to tell Leo had evaporated back through his gate as he walked back into the living room. Happy fluttered up and landed on his shoulder.

"Is all that stuff really true, Natsu?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, Happy, it's true."

"Lucy...she's really something, isn't she?"

"She sure is. Do you want to sleep in her room tonight?"

Happy nodded, and they went into Lucy's room once again. She was laying back down again, her arm thrown over her eyes. He didn't think she was asleep yet.

"What did Leo tell you?" She said, groaning in embarrassment.

"Nothing, just that I shouldn't yell at you. And that I'm a jerk."

"You are a jerk."

"He definitely is." Happy agreed.

A dry chortle came from Lucy's mouth.

"Can I tell you how sorry I am?" Natsu asked, still standing a few feet from the bed.

"Just get in, you two" Lucy said, throwing the covers open and sliding over close to the wall to make room.

"Alright!" Happy said, flying over and landing right on top of the covers and nuzzling in the crook of Lucy's leg.

Natsu swallowed heavily and hesitated. For some reason, this felt different to him. He actually felt... _nervous_? Natsu didn't get nervous. Especially not around Lucy. His moment of hesitation was broken when she gestured him in again,

"Come on...Natsu..."

Why did his name always have to sound so different in her voice? He climbed under the covers. She faced away from him, toward the wall, and he faced her. Being so close, he was surrounded by her scent, so much stronger to him because of his dragon senses. Although the superficial smells of soap and shampoo had changed over the year, her true smell was the same. She smelled like...his scarf. The same kind of scent he associated with warmth and familiarity. When it normally would have calmed him, at the moment it was causing a strange increase in his pulse. He couldn't believe she thought he didn't want her for a partner. He had left because of Igneel, nothing else. He had spent so many years with one goal in mind: Find Igneel. Once that goal was gone, Natsu didn't know what he was doing, what his life meant any more. He needed to figure that out. How would she feel if she knew that when he decided what his life was going to be about now, he had thought of her, of their partnership, of seeing her again? He had come back for Fairy Tail, yes, but over the past two years, Lucy had become Fairy Tail to him. If he had come back to find Fairy Tail intact, but Lucy gone, he would have searched to the ends of Earthland to find her. After seeing that wall, how much it meant to her to have Fairy Tail back together again...he was going to make that happen. For both of them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: Hail fellows, well met! We're back for another chapter, and I thought I'd have some fun and respond to the couple reviews I've gotten here at the beginning of the new chapter rather than doing it privately, so I'll try to do that for any future reviews as well:**

 **Bakers28: AHHHHH THANK YOU! I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)**

 **Mezatron: Thank you so much! This chapter is where it starts to get different, so I hope you like it! The plot is going to both follow and not follow the manga at random points; some will be like the first two chapters, where the events are canon, but adding things and exploring deeper into the dynamics or emotions, while others will have entirely new stuff. :D**

 **cookinom: Glad you like it! I'm definitely continuing for a bunch more chapters, so stick with me. ;)**

* * *

When Lucy awoke, she was alone. The pressure of Happy's sleeping figure in the crook of her knee and Natsu's warm breath in her hair were gone. She tried to quell a flood of anxiety that over took her at the thought that they had left her again.

 _Calm down. They're probably just in the other room, or they went out to look for food, or a million other things._

Reminding herself that she was a perfectly sane, independent individual that had made it on her own for many months now, she got up, had a shower, brushed her teeth, and dressed, hitching her keys and whip onto her belt. She heard a voice out in the street call,

"Is this the house boss? Should we bust in?"

Looking out the window, all the color drained from her face as she saw at least three squadrons from the royal army outside her building.

 _What the hell is the army doing at my house at the crack of dawn?!_

A shuffling behind her drew her attention as she heard,

"Man, did they sniff us out already?" He said glumly, rubbing the back of his head with one hand while Happy chirped "aye".

They had obviously climbed in through the window. Their dislike for the use of conventional means of entrance had clearly not changed in their months apart.

"THIS IS YOUR DOING?!" She shouted.

In a swift movement, Natsu grabbed Lucy by the hand and pulled her toward the window,

"Well, time to haul ass, Lucy!"

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!"

But he didn't answer; instead, his hand swiped the backs of her knees, and he was holding her bride-style before jumping through the window, not worrying about the breaking glass and splintering wood. Happy flew behind them carrying a bag of supplies. Lucy heard the army's cries of, "HE'S THE CULPRIT!", and "AFTER THEM!" as they hit the ground and Natsu set off running, carrying her as if she weighed nothing at all.

"HOW THE HELL DID I GET DRAGGED INTO YOUR SHENANIGANS?!" She raged at him, waving her fists around in frustration, "AND YOU CAN PUT ME DOWN!"

He set her down, and they kept running, the thunderous footfalls of the army behind them matching the thundering beat of her heart.

"What did you do anyway?" She demanded, balking as he turned his face around in a manic grin.

"I raised the beacon for Fairy Tail's revival! A giant flame symbol on the Mercurious Palace."

"YOU SET FIRE TO THE PALACE?!"

"Well I had to put it where it would be most easily seen. You know what they say, go big or go home!"

"Natsu, that's the least of my worries! Even if we wanted to revive Fairy Tail-"

"We can do it. I just know it! We are going to gather everyone up and bring back Fairy Tail!"

He did it again. That blinding, boyish smile, showing his pointy teeth, his eyes squeezed together. Sometimes it was hard to believe Natsu was actually a year older than her. There was an uncomfortable tug at her heartstrings as she remembered what it felt like to be companions with Natsu. A never-ending fountain of confidence and surety that they could do anything they set their minds to. Her eyes watered as she nodded and Happy cheered. New confidence in her strides, she ran after Natsu. Was there anywhere she wouldn't follow him?

* * *

After traveling for a day and half (and moving quickly to avoid the army), they had to take a boat across a lake to make it to Tuly Village. Now that they were there, Natsu couldn't have been more relieved to be back on solid land and free of his motion sickness. They were in sight of the village's defining feature, a giant clock tower. Natsu stared at it absently, the sight of it searching for something in his brain to connect with.

"Let's stop here for the day," Lucy said, looking at her map.

Happy responded with an "aye", before turning to him.

"What's wrong, Natsu? Oh, that's the clock tower you destroyed once, huh?"

Oh, that was it! He remembered now. He had come to take down a crime syndicate, and had done so, but the clocktower had been collateral damage...along with several of the houses.

"Well it's great they got it fixed," He shrugged, thinking it lacked any visual interest now that it was in one piece, "...maybe I should destroy it again."

He felt the rolled-up map smash into his cheek as Lucy shouted,

"OH NO YOU DON'T!"

"UGH!" Natsu intoned, clenching his fists in anger, "There's not enough action here! And after all that training I did. I can't believe those wimps in Skull Millione won the Grand Magic Games."

He began punching at the air in mock shadowboxing,

"So much for crushing Gray and challenging Erza and beating Laxus once we were back together again, ARGH!"

He whirled around to his companion and pointed at her,

"LUCY! You'll do for now. FIGHT ME!" He demanded.

"No way..." She said, letting her words trail into a very pregnant pause.

His face fell in frustration for a moment, but he was brought back when she went on,

"...is what I'd normally say. But I've been doing a little training myself, you know."

He did know. Leo had told him as much, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't itching with a desire to see what she'd been working on all this time. She continued,

"I'd never be able to beat you at your best, but do you want to have a sparring match anyway?"

As she reached for the pouch with her keys, there was that sassy spark in her eyes he missed seeing, and he felt a devilish grin spread across his own face. He did want to have a sparring match, and he realized with some surprise that they had never actually fought each other for practice before. The thought was quickening his pulse. She held her keys, leaning forward in preparation for battle, and Natsu assumed his own battle stance. He sized up his opponent. Lucy looked...different. She _dressed_ different. Gone were the crop tops and cleavage-bearing ensembles. Instead, she wore a sleeveless, dark blue shirt that went up to her neck with a collar and a big bow, and there were rows of military buttons up the center. She still wore a short white skirt, but instead of leaving her legs mostly bare, she had on thick boots that went all the way up to cover her thighs. On her left arm, she wore a fingerless glove that went up to the middle of her bicep that protected the hand with which she brandished her whip. The other hand was bare, such that the light pink mark on her hand was always visible. Her hair, which she usually left mostly out with just a tiny ponytail on one side, was now almost all held up and to the side with a blue ribbon. The realization dawned on Natsu that she was dressing to protect more of her skin, to be more comfortable so she could fight. She really had changed. He grinned even wider and held his hands out, letting them ignite.

"Alright, Luce, but don't think I'm gonna give ya an easy time just cuz it's our first fight!" And he lunged forward with a fist swinging.

To his surprise, his fist didn't connect with anything, and as he whirled past her, she slyly said,

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

As he moved past her, she had swiveled out of the way, light engulfing her, and now his balance was dangerously off because of all the momentum he had. He felt a huge force connect with his back and he went flying even farther. Had she kicked him? It felt like someone had hit him with a bat. He landed hard on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and knocking the wind out of him momentarily. He sprang back up, regaining his braced position to see that Lucy's clothes had changed. Now she wore a cow-printed bikini top, and a pair of….pants? One leg was entirely covered by black tights while the other was bare, and she now had a big belt hanging off her hips. She had drawn her whip and was holding the handle in one hand and the end in the other, pulling it taut.

"Wow, Lucy!" Happy chirped, floating above her, "Your magic was just like Erza's! How'd you do that?!"

 _Yeah, how the hell did she do that?_

"Pretty cool, huh?" She gloated, "It's called Star Dress. It allows me to take in my spirit's magic and requip into a special form with their enhanced abilities. This is my Taurus form, and it makes me extra strong, plus a few other special tricks that you may be lucky enough to see."

She ended with a wink. Natsu was thoroughly impressed. It must take a lot of power to be able to handle the magic of Celestial Spirits in her own body rather than just fostering their presence in the human world. But this was a fight, and he was going to test the limits of her new abilities.

"You really do have some cool new tricks, Luce, but that's not going to be enough," He cried, running toward her again, "Fire Dragon IRON FIST!"

Lucy raised her arm and crouched down, bringing the whip down on the ground in front of her with a loud _CRACK._

"Earth wave!" She shouted.

The ground below him seemed to buckle and move, and he lost his balance again, his feet shooting out in front of him. In less than a second, he felt something searingly sharp wrap around his ankle and pull him forward, causing an intense pain as his head connected with the ground as he was dragged toward Lucy by her whip. Unbelievable, was she getting the upper hand on him? Absolutely not. He sat up slightly and shot fire at the whip, hoping to burn it off of him, but that failed. Instead, he allowed himself to be pulled until he was in close proximity to her and he felt the whip loosen. Assuming Lucy was about to make another attack, he sprang into a crouch and swiped her legs with a kick, causing her to fall backwards. Although they were fighting, he didn't actually want to burn her alive or anything, so instead of attacking with his flame breath, he leapt on top of her, intending to land a few punches until she surrendered. He straddled her and pulled a fist back, looking down to see a look of determination and fighting spirit in her eyes, which he was unaccustomed to seeing directed at him. As he leaned forward to to connect a punch, she brought her whip up between them and pulled it taut in front of his neck so that his throat slammed into it painfully, causing him to cough and sputter. She smirked as she pulled her knee up between his legs to his abdomen, and he gasped as she pushed with her knee and the whip rolled against his neck, flipping them over so she was on top of him, her bare knee digging into his chest, pinning him to the ground.

 _When did she get so strong?_

Natsu grunted as Lucy bent her face close to his, looking him directly in the eyes while she still held the whip to his throat, pushing ever so slightly and causing a choking pressure. To his amazement, she was smiling; no, she was...laughing?

"This is fun!" she breathed out, panting slightly from exertion "I can see why you and Gray did this all the time!"

Natsu swallowed nervously, an especially difficult task given the pressure at his throat. What was this strange feeling pooling in his belly? Lucy was unbelievably vibrant, fighting like this, and something about her proximity, her strength, and the wicked glint in her eye was causing an uncomfortable twitch somewhere inside him. And there was another, more sinister impulse nagging at the back of his mind...Snapping out of it, he grabbed her leg with his hands and flung her off of him with all his might, causing her to go soaring backward. Gracefully, she turned over in the air, and light engulfed her again before she landed heavily back on her feet, her original clothes restored. She planted her feet far apart in a battle stance again, returning her hands to her keys, staring him down.

"She requipped in mid-air after being attacked?!" Happy exclaimed, flying to Natsu's shoulder.

Natsu turned around to commiserate with his little blue partner.

"She really has gotten much tougher." He whispered, both in irritation and admiration.

"You better stop going easy on her then, Natsu!" Happy advised with a flourish.

"That's the thing, Happy," Natsu said, his brow furrowed, "I wasn't goin' easy on her."

* * *

Lucy was feeling very pleased with herself. She was actually holding her own in a fight with Natsu! Obviously, she knew he wasn't going at full force, but he didn't go full force when sparring with Gray or Erza either because none of them actually wanted to hurt one another permanently. She was eager to continue, but Natsu and Happy were facing away from her, whispering to each other furtively. After a moment, the whispering stopped, and Natsu's arm shot out to his side.

"Wait a minute," He said, his voice seeming to snap into focus, losing the excitement it had during their sparring.

"What?" She replied, her hand still on her keys.

Instead of answering, Natsu whipped around in an instant and breathed a stream of fire in her direction. She braced for a burn, but felt nothing except a stream of heat between her legs. Shrieking and looking down, she saw a shot of flame go between her thighs and out behind her. She whirled around to follow it's trajectory to see what he was aiming for, but she couldn't see anything. She turned back around at him in a rage,

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

* * *

Natsu wasn't surprised Lucy couldn't see or hear it; it was his dragon senses that told him to send that blast of fire out toward the road, where there was a rather portly man chasing his own carriage that had been commandeered by thieves. Natsu had heard the cries of "No! Stop! Thieves!" and didn't waste a moment before sending a blast to dispatch the perpetrators. He felt a pull on his magic power as his fire hit his target, and he smirked in self-satisfaction.

"Hey!" A shrill voice pulled him back to his present circumstances, "What was that all about?!"

"Don't you worry about it," He smiled, glad to have stopped a bad guy like old times, and to have found a worthy derailment for his spar with Lucy.

"We were in the middle of a fight, you know." She sneered in annoyance, her hands on her hips.

"Eh, I've lost interest." Natsu answered with a wave of his hand.

As she puffed out an offended, "HEY", he turned away and started to walk. The truth was, he was _very_ interested and impressed with her new strength, but he didn't want to continue their fight. He thought back to the feeling in his stomach when she had pinned him to the ground, and while it was mostly a pleasant and warm, sort of tugging feeling, there was something else to it. Something dark. Like there was a memory he was trying to call forth, but he couldn't, or he wasn't supposed to. Part of him had wanted, instead of pushing her away, to pull her closer, and to let her press her whip harder against his throat until he lost consciousness. Somehow, he felt if that happened, he could remember whatever it was he had forgotten. The thought gave him a shudder, and he wasn't eager to feel that darkness again, even if it meant he could get that warm feeling back too. It all made him foggy and confused. He didn't know what it meant, and he had never felt it before, but he felt certain he should put a stop to it.

* * *

Later that night, and now settled into their room at the Kotoko Inn, Lucy sat down in a chair and propped her feet up on the table, pulling open her map to peer at how far they still had to go. Natsu and Happy were spread out on the couch, watching her expectantly.

"Well," Natsu said, "Where is everybody then? Where's that ice freak been hanging out all this time?"

"I don't know," Lucy replied, not looking up from the map.

"Okay, then where's Erza?"

"No idea."

"Laxus?"

"Not a clue."

"So you're telling me you don't know where all of them are?!" Natsu groaned dejectedly.

"Well, I kept an eye out, but it was impossible to keep track of everyone."

Lucy thought back to how hard she had to dig just to get the information she did have. Most of the guild members seemed to shy away from the spotlight since the guild disbanded. She expected to hear every week about some great deed performed by Erza or to see new photoshoots of Mira, but they'd all seemingly gone off the grid. The bits and pieces she'd gathered from newspapers tended to be blurry half shots of former Fairy Tail wizards as they retreated from towns, or descriptions of wizards that completed jobs that she was fairly sure were her former friends, but didn't have any concrete proof. She recalled reading one article that described a wizard putting an illegal moonshiner's ring out of commission by drinking all their stock in one sitting, and despite the article having no picture or name, Lucy would have bet her best key that was Cana. The thought made her smile. She looked back up to Natsu's deflated expression, and reassured him,

"Look, the first thing we have to do is get to Margarett Town, which is to the South East. That's where Lamia Scale's Guildhall is."

His expression expanded from a frown to a devious rictus as he clenched his fists in anticipation,

"That's Lyon and Jura's place, right? Just the people I need for a fight!"

 _Such a one-track mind_ , she thought with a shake of her head. Lucy was trying not to be offended by the fact that he was chomping at the bit to fight those two, but he'd "lost interest" in sparring with her. Even after showing him how much she had learned, she still wasn't good enough. _Nope. Still have to get a handle on those thoughts._ She was reading too much into things, she was sure. It was nothing new for Natsu to get distracted and flit from idea to idea at a whim. It had nothing to do with her. Why was it so hard for her to believe that?

"Lyon and Jura aren't the only ones you'll be happy to see at Lamia Scale" Lucy said with a wink, trying to steer the conversation (and her own thoughts) away from the present subject.

She was rewarded with a curious expression from Natsu and an "aye?" from Happy, to which she shook her finger playfully,

"You'll just have to wait and see when we get there."

Further frustrated groans from the two of them drew a chuckle from her throat as she folded the map and stowed it in her pack. The one person whose location she was sure of was little Wendy, who had joined Lamia Scale to be with her friend Shellia. Lucy liked the thought of how surprised and excited Natsu and Happy would be to see her and Carla again. She suggested to Natsu and Happy that they take a bath and rest up so they could get an early start in the morning, to which they grouchily mumbled an affirmation. Standing up from the desk and moving to flop down on the bed, Lucy closed her eyes and let the sound of the bath running lull her to sleep.

* * *

"Natsu… _Natsu_!"

Where was that voice coming from? Reality pulled into focus around him as Natsu remembered where he was. In Tuly Village, at the Kotoko Inn, on the couch. Happy was sleeping on a cushion next to him; Lucy was in the bed on the other side of the room. When had he fallen asleep? The last thing he remembered was taking a bath with Happy and coming out to find Lucy already fast asleep. She hadn't even changed out of her clothes or gotten under the covers. He had thrown a blanket over her as he considered that he and Happy must really be wearing her out. Now, he was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling. It was mostly dark in the room, the moonlight streaming in through the window casting an eerie grey-white cast on the space. Natsu hated this time, having always preferred day to night. He lived for fire, vibrancy, and light. When the world was quiet like this, he felt so restless and...alone.

But who had spoken just then? He was sure he had heard someone calling his name. It definitely wasn't Lucy; he would recognize the way she said his name any time, and he sensed no movement or sound from Lucy's direction. The voice had been male, he thought? Somehow he couldn't be sure.

"Go to her...Natsu."

There it was again! He assumed the voice meant to go to Lucy, but she was sleeping, and he didn't want to disturb her. Despite his brain telling him not to move, he sat up anyway, turning and planting his feet on the ground. He recoiled in disgust as he felt something beneath his feet. Something...wet. Had Happy been drooling in his sleep? Wouldn't be the first time. He pressed his palms against his knees to push himself up and walked across the room blearily. There were still little patches of wetness on the floor wherever he put his feet as he walked. Questions kept moving through his brain, asking what the wetness was, why he couldn't seem to stop moving even though he wanted to, and where that voice had come from.

When he was about halfway to the bed where Lucy lay, he inexplicably felt panic seize in his stomach. He didn't want to get any closer, and he wasn't sure why, but his feet kept moving anyway. He shut his eyes, feeling instinctually that he was going to see something he didn't want to see, but as his knees connected painfully with the side of the bed, he forced himself to look down, and a strangled cry escaped his mouth.

He realized then why he couldn't sense _any_ sound from Lucy before, not even the gentle ebb and flow of her breath that he was so used to hearing while she slept. To his complete horror, her chest was sliced open from the base of her throat to the center of her abdomen, the edges of the wound ragged and dripping. Her eyes, those big brown eyes of hers, had been gouged out of her skull, the gaping holes seemed to stare him down as his knees turned to jelly. Bile welled up in his throat and he retched, but somehow didn't actually throw anything up. One of his feet slipped in the wetness on the floor and he no longer had any doubt what it was. It was blood.

 _No. This isn't real. It can't be real._

In an instant, it was over. Natsu jolted awake so suddenly he thought he might actually vomit this time. Sweat dripped down the side of his face, and his breathing came out of his throat in gasps. To his surprise, he wasn't lying down on the couch like he had thought; he was standing over Lucy's bed, as he had been in the dream. His hands were reached out toward her as she slept so peacefully, a stark contrast to how heavily his hands were shaking. The blood was gone. The wounds were gone. She was okay. It was just a dream. His hands lowered, and he looked around the room.

It was still dark, but a look out the window showed the slight twinge of yellow-orange on the horizon that signaled it would be dawn in a few hours. Still much too early to wake Happy or Lucy. His hands still shaking, he quelled the urge to crawl into the bed with her again, fearing either waking her now or having her awaken to find him in her bed and getting yelled at. Instead, he sat down on the floor and rested his back against the side of the bed frame. The cool wood floor and frame against his bare lower legs and back sent a shock to his clammy skin. He focused his dragon hearing on the fact that he could hear her breath and Happy's clear as day. There was nothing to worry about. They were alright.

* * *

 **Ah, that was fun! One of the things I've always wanted to write was a good-natured fight scene between Lucy and Natsu, and I finally got the chance! Anybody else always want to see that? Just me? Okay. _ Haha, just kidding. Thanks to everyone reading, and I'll see you in a while for another chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again! I'm back for another chapter. This time we get to see a heartfelt discussion between Lucy and Wendy that will feature one of my absolute favorite secondary ships. This is a shorter interlude before getting to more serious stuff, so enjoy! Vielen dank!**

* * *

Lucy rested her back against a log where they'd made camp for the night and contemplated everything that happened over the past few days. Looking down with a smile, she absent-mindedly stroked Wendy's hair, gently enough not to disturb the girl fast asleep with her head in her lap or the small white cat curled up only a few feet away, closer to the fire. It had been hard for Wendy to leave her new guild. Her gratitude to Lamia Scale for taking her in and her loyalty to her friend Shellia made her believe she had to stay, but after the battle against the guild Orichi's Fin, she had made a tearful parting and was now traveling with them once again. It had been so good to see her smiling face, and to see that, unlike Natsu, Wendy didn't seemed to have changed much at all. Carla, on the other hand, was very different. The look on Happy's face when he saw her in her human form was something she wouldn't soon forget.

Looking up, she gazed across the campfire to Natsu and Happy's sleeping forms. She had volunteered to keep watch while they slept, wanting Natsu to rest as much as possible. The morning they had left Tuly Village, Lucy thought Natsu had looked tired, as though he hadn't slept well at all. She scanned over her memory of that morning:

" _What's all over my hand? Why is it all wet?", she thought to herself as she blinked the sleep out of her eyes. In her sleep, she seemed to have thrown her arm over the side of the bed, and now it was resting on…_

" _Natsu!" She exclaimed as she pulled her hand away from his shoulder._

 _In an instant he was on his feet, looking around wildly,_

" _Wha-what is it?!"_

" _You were DROOLING on my HAND!" Lucy accused as she wiped the offending appendage on the bed spread in disgust, "What were you doing sleeping against the bed anyway?"_

 _The dazed look on Natsu's still-awakening face morphed a bit into an unfathomable expression. He relaxed his stance a bit and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly,_

" _I guess I musta been sleepwalkin' or somethin'."_

She hadn't believed him then, and the intensity with which he was sleeping now, mouth agape and snoring, told her she was right not to. Despite his obvious fatigue, he had unsurprisingly prevailed during the previous days' battle. She had been shocked to see how much his skills had improved. Beyond the raw increase in power she had experienced when he arrived at the Grand Magic Games, once she had seen him truly fight, she saw how his style had changed. He was more focused than ever, plowing through enemies as though they were no stronger than a swarm of lightening bugs. She had balked when she heard someone say, "Now the monster's here!", remembering how the other guilds at the Grand Magic Games had called him that too. It bothered her more than she could say when people called him that. How could anyone look at Natsu and see a monster? Watching him sleep now, his face so different from the expression of the wizard fighting yesterday, it was hard to believe it was the same person. Despite her faith in Natsu, seeing him the previous day...it had honestly been a bit frightening, but not because she would ever be afraid of him. More like it reminded her how far away from her he really was. They were on two completely different levels, and she was afraid they always would be. That raw ache of abandonment she felt pulsed in her stomach and she resisted the urge to curl up into a ball, obviously not wanting to wake Wendy.

 _Why does it have to hurt so much? He's your friend. He's back with you now. Everything is fine._

"Lucy…"

Her eyebrows raised as she heard her name, muffled as Natsu mumbled it into the bed roll he slept on. Lucy's heartbeat increased involuntarily.

"...still...there...Lucy" The mumbling continued.

"Yeah, Natsu," Lucy whispered to herself, "I'm still here."

The tiny mage in Lucy's lap stirred, and in a moment two topaz eyes blinked open at her.

"Oh, Wendy, I'm sorry," the blonde intoned quietly, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay, It's just nice to hear your voice."

A smile spread across her face as she continued to stroke Wendy's hair.

"You don't regret leaving Lamia Scale, do you?"

A more serious look took over the Sky Maiden's features as she considered the question. Lucy was always struck by how serious Wendy could become at a moment's notice. Never before had she met someone as sweet, thoughtful, and truly moral as the Sky Dragon Slayer. While all those were good qualities, Lucy worried it made Wendy take on too much responsibility and stress for her age. She was only 13. It wouldn't kill her to be a little selfish every once in a while. Even still, Lucy knew that wouldn't ever be Wendy. She was kind right down to her core. That's why she wasn't at all surprised when Wendy answered,

"It's not that I regret leaving the guild. Fairy Tail will always be my true family."

Lucy nodded, thinking that was all, until Wendy continued,

"There is something I feel bad about, though."

"What's that?"

"I feel bad about leaving Shellia."

The celestial mage smiled down at Wendy. She could certainly understand that.

"You and Shellia will always be friends, no matter how far away you are." Lucy asserted.

She'd had to believe that this past year, otherwise she really would have lost her mind. She thought that would suffice, but the same serious look remained on Wendy's face. Lucy's eyebrows went up in a silent question if that was all that was bothering her.

"Lucy...can I ask you something?"

The hesitancy in the girl's voice surprised Lucy. The two girls had always talked about anything and everything together.

"Of course. You can ask me anything."

There was an intense pause before Wendy closed her eyes and said in a quiet voice,

"How do you know when you're in love?"

"Oh." Was the blonde's initial response.

Lucy was unsure how to respond. She had never been in love. She'd had crushes, to be certain, and she'd had thoughts about the kind of boy she'd like to date, but she'd never thought she was actually in love. She decided to skirt the question for a moment.

"Why do you ask?" She replied with a sly smile, "did some boy at Lamia Scale catch your eye?"

Wendy looked frustrated, and instead of responding, doubled down on her inquiry,

"Does being in love mean you want to be with someone always?"

"Well yeah, I'd guess so."

"And that you would do anything for them?"

"Sure."

"And...and that you think about holding them or about them holding you?"

"Uhh, Wendy, why are you asking all this?"

There was another pause as the bluenette bit her lip nervously.

"Because...I feel that way about Shellia. And it scares me."

" _Oh."_

Understanding dawned on Lucy and she felt severely stupid for asking if there was a boy at Lamia Scale. There was no boy. The immediate reaction Lucy had was a mild feeling of discomfort. This was not something the celestial mage felt like she was qualified to talk about; she wasn't a parent or a responsible party. Then she tried to wonder who else Wendy had to talk about this with, and the prospects weren't great. Natsu? Absolutely not. He wouldn't care one way or the other about the gender of someone else's crush, but the moment he had material for teasing, he'd torment her mercilessly about it, too dense to realize that this was a delicate situation and would make her feel bad. Carla? Possibly, but she'd probably say Wendy was too young to know anything about that and dismiss it outright, which wouldn't help either. No, even Lucy knew she was the obvious choice for this kind of talk. She took a deep breath and told herself she could do it. If she could talk boys, she should be able to talk girls as well. The basic principles remained the same.

"Wendy…" Lucy began, "There's nothing to be scared of."

"It's not weird?" Wendy asked, sitting up from Lucy's lap and covering her reddening face with her hands, "I always heard all the boys in the guild gossip about liking the girls and the girls gossip about liking the boys, but never the girls about the girls. I must be a freak."

Lucy gently reached out and clasped the girl's hands in her own, uncovering her face and looking in her eyes,

"You are not a freak. You're a kind, beautiful girl, and loving someone isn't something you should be afraid of. There are plenty of girls who like other girls in the world, and boys who like other boys too."

"There...there are?" Wendy's eyes widened.

Lucy nodded. The example that came immediately to Lucy's mind was Freed, who she was almost certain was desperately in love with Laxus and had been for some time. However, she didn't feel that it was her business to out him to the tiny dragon slayer, so just general assurance would have to suffice. She gestured in front of her for Wendy to come back and sit with her, and the sky maiden came and settled between Lucy's legs, resting her back against Lucy's chest. The blonde wrapped the younger mage in her arms in a supportive hug as they both looked forward toward the fire.

"I just feel so confused," Wendy fretted in hushed tones, "How do you know when you really like someone rather than just being best friends?"

 _Good question._ Lucy thought carefully before she responded, resting her cheek on the top of Wendy's head,

"I guess you just...know." She began, "You know that they're different, that their actions mean something different to you than other people's, make you feel differently than other people, that you want more from them than other people, and that you want to be more to them than other people. You feel strongly enough about them that you can't stop thoughts that otherwise would seem selfish."

"What do you mean selfish?"

"Like, you want them to consider you more important than other people. You wish they would put you before others. You want to be first in their mind. You would never actual ask them to, because you know it's selfish, but you can't help thinking that way."

Wendy nodded,

"That's exactly how I feel."

"Do you think that Shellia might feel the same way?"

Lucy couldn't see it, but the tiny groan that escaped the slayer's lips told her another look of consternation passed over the bluenette's face.

"I don't know. It's so hard to tell when she and her cousin are _always_ talking about love."

Lucy choked back a laugh, not wanting to wake the two sleeping Exceeds and the snoring dragon slayer. Yes, being in love with either of the Blendy girls must be a confusing experience. She thought with amusement about Shelly's relationship with Ren from Blue Pegasus, who was always adamantly denying that he liked her or really any girl he came into contact with. Somehow their relationship both made none and all of the sense in the world.

"When I talked to Shellia about leaving, she said that I had to go with you and Natsu because you both love me and Fairy Tail. I tried to say that I considered you both to be like my big brother and big sister, but she just said, 'That's all love'. I was trying to work up to talking to her about these feelings, but I got too scared, and I just left. I regret leaving without telling her how I feel."

She tightened her arms around her friend's shoulders affectionately,

"You'll get the chance again. You're going to see each other before you know it."

Wendy turned her head back toward Lucy slightly, so the celestial mage could see her small smile. The smile faded quickly as Wendy turned back to look at the fire.

"But I wonder..." she began slowly, "can I really say that I love her when I was willing to leave her behind?"

Lucy was very glad Wendy couldn't see her eyes dart involuntarily toward the sleeping fire dragon, a small smile of her own forming on her lips. Leaning down ever so slightly so she could speak into the tiny slayer's ear, she said,

"I'm starting to realize that the leaving doesn't matter so much, as long as you always come back."

With a chuckle, Lucy tickled Wendy's side, eliciting a small giggle from her "little sister". She was growing up and having her first crush. The thought made Lucy feel old. She resumed stroking Wendy's hair as the young girl settled in, leaning her head back against Lucy's shoulder as she closed her eyes to go back to sleep. Before too long, Wendy's breathing evened out and Lucy was alone with her thoughts once again. All she could think was how much she hoped Shellia felt the same about Wendy. It worried her a little bit. Shellia was a couple years older than Wendy at 15, but she acted the same age, sometimes even a little younger. She had also acted like she had a crush on Lyon at the Grand Magic Games, but that didn't necessarily mean she couldn't have developed feelings for Wendy. If there was anything Lucy had learned over the course of her life, it was that very little was impossible. She was certainly not in any position to doubt. Her own experiences with matters of the heart were pitiful for a girl of 18. Despite her ability to freely make jokes about her own attractiveness or that of others, she had never had a boyfriend, never been kissed, and had definitely never been in love. The truth was, when it came to serious discussions of relationships, she got cagey. Lucy recalled the time she had been convinced Natsu had a crush on her, and how insanely uncomfortable that made her. That was so long ago, though. Things were different now.

Her eyes drifted back to the boy on the other side of the fire as her own words to Wendy flooded back to her mind. _You know that they're different._ Did she feel differently about Natsu? Of course she did. Him leaving her hurt more than anyone else. She told herself it was because they were partners, and that still felt true. He was still an idiot, though. Although...he seemed to have realized that things weren't as simple as they used to be. She had sensed it when he apologized to her that night back in Crocus. Previously, they had always been able to sum up anything in their relationship by saying they were part of the same guild. They'd do anything for a fellow guild member, but now...whatever else was going on, they both knew they were different to each other than their other guildmates. What that meant was anyone's guess. One thing that had nagged at Lucy's mind was that more than anything else, she wanted some sign that Natsu needed her. She was always the one that needed him. She needed saving or she needed his help on a job or she didn't want to be left behind. Until that was the same for him, they'd always be out of balance.

 _One day, Natsu. One day I hope you'll need me too._


End file.
